dYdX is not blocking users with Russian IP addresses

CORRECTION (12:10 PM ET): dYdX confirmed to the The Block that it isn’t taking any steps to block Russian users. 

DeFi trading app dYdX said it’s not geoblocking Russian users after Yearn developer banteg posted a screenshot on Monday with the words “another platform bites the dust.”

Representatives of dYdX told The Block that any restrictions don’t apply to Russian users. 

Users from Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Myanmar, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea are not permitted to use dYdX, according to the platform’s terms of use. Russia is not specifically mentioned but the document does say that these service restrictions apply to other jurisdictions currently sanctioned by the US government.

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The platform’s terms of use also warn against deploying virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the restrictions.

As a hybrid exchange — partly centralized and decentralized — the smart contract backend is also centralized. This means that traders unable to use the app frontend cannot circumvent these restrictions by interacting with the protocol’s smart contracts directly.

In March, Matcha, a DEX aggregator platform, began blocking users from Russia. 1inch, another DEX aggregator, and dYdX do not permit users from the US. This policy has meant that US-based traders have not received high-value airdrops from these platforms in the past.

Geoblocking certain jurisdictions is not the only DeFi-related censorship that exists today. Uniswap has begun blocking some crypto wallets in partnership with blockchain forensics outfit TRM Labs. These wallets have, however, been linked with illegal activities like human trafficking, terrorism financing, and child sexual abuse among other things, according to Uniswap.

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